Domestic European hot-rolled coil prices climbed Dec. 10, while market fundamentals remained largely unchanged, as sources focused on the wider uncertainty and discussed the need for domestic production cuts.
“Business is dead quiet, we don’t expect much of an increase in requests now,” a service center source said. “There is a lot of uncertainty ahead beyond steel with Trump and now for Germany, everyone is waiting for a new government, so we don’t expect much of a price change until the elections in February.”
The same source referred to an oversupplied market while sharing expectations for potential mill capacity cuts across Northern Europe.
“It is impacting all types of steel, despite the market being oversupplied and margins being so poor, mills are still producing, with a large amount of output being green as they try to keep their carbon certificates,” the service center source said.
“European steelmakers are struggling with low HRC demand and low prices while imports are limited due to the risk on quotas and domestic rates are comparable. The green steel market is growing slowly, but we are expecting a weak first quarter in 2025,” a German distributor said, referring to both Northern and Southern European markets.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur540/mt CIF Antwerp, stable on the day.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Southern Europe at Eur540/mt CIF Italy, unchanged on the day.
Market participants in both regions continued to refer to higher mill offers but cited the wider and more competitive price levels that continued to be heard in the market, adding pressure to potential price increases.
However, a mill source argued this was due to higher stock levels and limited demand opportunities further down the value chain.
“Service centers are so aggressive in getting rid of their high volume, that they can’t afford to buy material at the new higher prices — so it’s creating a squeeze,” the mill source said. “The market cannot continue without capacity cuts, we need higher prices, especially if we are looking to decarbonize further.”
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur557.50/mt ex-works Ruhr Dec. 10, up Eur7.50 on the day.
Platts assessed domestic HRC in Southern Europe at Eur560/mt ex-works Italy, up Eur5 on the day.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
